William Perlman/The Star-LedgerJenrry Mejia said he's relieved his injury doesn't need surgery and that winter ball in the Dominican Republic is still a possibility.

NEW YORK -- Jenrry Mejia spoke today for the first time after suffering a rhomboid strain of the right shoulder blade in yesterday's 8-7 loss to the Pirates.

He reiterated the original speculation by pitching coach Dan Warthen that it was not a re-aggravation of a previous injury he had in the same shoulder in late June, and said that the pain was relatively minor, but that he wanted to be cautious.

"It wasn't a real bad pain but he just wanted to be careful, he didn't want to make it any worse than it was," Angel Pagan, who was translating for Mejia, said.

Mejia said he was relieved that he didn't need surgery and that the feeling now is more about the healing process going forward. He did not rule out the possibility of pitching this winter in the Dominican Republic

"He thinks he can still pitch in winter ball," Pagan said. "He thinks he can recover you know, get fully healed so he can go back to the Dominican and pitch in winter ball. It's nothing that worries him too much, not like the first injury."

Who will replace Mejia?

With off days coming up on Monday and Thursday, it lessens the immediate effect of Jerry Manuel's decisions when it comes to the Mets rotation moving forward.

Initially, Manuel talked about reducing the innings limit for each of his regular starters, maybe capping them at five innings or 100 pitches because there's only four left right now.

"I've been trying to come up with a few scenarios," Manuel said. "We'll probably talk about limited innings for when we do stay on rotation for guys like (Jonathon) Niese, (Mike) Pelfrey, (Dillon) Gee,"

He also discussed plugging the spot with either Pat Misch, Raul Valdes or perhaps Oliver Perez.

"Once that spot comes up I'm sure there will be discussions about whoever is on the current roster," Manuel said.

Tejada increases role

Manuel said that, with the exception of a few off days here and there, Ruben Tejada will be an everyday presence in the Mets lineup and at second base.

"Yeah, I'd like to see what we can get out of him for the rest of the year at this point," Manuel said.